Editing Kottayam district (section)

==== The Chera Perumals of Mahodayapuram (800 – 1102 CE) ====
{{Main|Chera Perumals of Makotai}}
{{See also|Vazhappally copper plate}}
{{See also|Medieval Cholas}}
[[File:South India in early 11th century AD.jpg|thumbnail|[[Kerala]] during 11th century CE (the region which is marked as ''Chera'')]]
The area included in the modern-day district of [[Kottayam]] was part of three ''Nadus'' (provinces) during the period of the [[Chera Perumals of Makotai|Chera Perumals of Mahodayapuram]] (800–1102 [[Common Era|CE]]) for nearly three centuries.<ref name="feudal states in early 18th century Kerala">{{Cite book |last=Menon |first=Sreedhara A. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FAlXPgAACAAJ&q=%E0%B4%95%E0%B5%87%E0%B4%B0%E0%B4%B3+%E0%B4%9A%E0%B4%B0%E0%B4%BF%E0%B4%A4%E0%B5%8D%E0%B4%B0%E0%B4%82 |title=''Kerala Charitram'' |date=January 2007 |publisher=DC Books |isbn=9788126415885 |edition=2007 |location=Kottayam |language=ml |access-date=10 June 2022}}</ref> The region around the city of [[Kottayam]] was known as ''Munjunadu'', while the [[Vaikom]]-[[Meenachil]] region, which lies to the north of ''Munjunadu'' was included in a province called ''Vempolinadu'' (known as ''Bimbali Desam'' in Sanskrit).<ref name="feudal states in early 18th century Kerala" /> The third province was the ''Nantuzhainadu'' which constitutes the modern-day [[List of taluks of Kerala|Taluks]] of [[Changanassery]] and [[Thiruvalla]].<ref name="feudal states in early 18th century Kerala" /> This period saw the decline of [[Buddhism]] and [[Jainism]], which were once prominent in the region, along with the growth of [[Hinduism]] characterised by a large-scale migration of the [[Nambudiri]] [[Brahmin]]s into the region.<ref name="feudal states in early 18th century Kerala" />

The territory of the Chera Perumals of Mahodayapuram  disintegrated into several small [[Feudalism|feudal states]] by early 12th century CE as a result of the continuous war that occurred between the Chera Perumals and the [[Medieval Cholas]] throughout the 11th century CE.<ref name="feudal states in early 18th century Kerala" />
[[File:Vazhappally copper plate (9th century AD).jpg|thumbnail|The [[Vazhappally copper plate]] (882/883 CE) written in [[Old Malayalam]], found near [[Changanassery]].<ref name="feudal states in early 18th century Kerala" />]]
The [[Vazhappally copper plate]] (c. 882/83 CE<ref name=":28">{{Cite book |last=Devadevan |first=Manu V. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=exzhDwAAQBAJ&q=The+%E2%80%98Early+Medieval%27+Origins+of+India |title=The 'Early Medieval' Origins of India |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=2020 |isbn=978-1-108-49457-1 |pages=128 |chapter=Changes in Land Relations and the Changing Fortunes of the Cēra State}}</ref>) is a copper plate inscription written in [[Old Malayalam]] language that dates back to the 9th century CE found at [[Vazhappally]] in Kottayam district.<ref name=":12">Narayanan, M. G. S. Perumāḷs of Kerala. Thrissur (Kerala): CosmoBooks, 2013. 435.</ref><ref name=":02">Veluthat, Kesavan. "The Temple and the State in Medieval South India." ''Studies in People's History'', vol. 4, no. 1, June 2017, pp. 15–23.</ref> Recent scholarship puts the date of the plate in c. 882/83 CE.<ref name=":3">'Changes in Land Relations during the Decline of the Cera State,' In Kesavan Veluthat and Donald R. Davis Jr. (eds), ''Irreverent History:- Essays for M.G.S. Narayanan,'' Primus Books, New Delhi, 2014. 58.</ref> The inscription is engraved on a single copper plate (with five lines on both sides) in an early form of the [[Old Malayalam]] language in [[Vatteluttu]] script with some [[Grantha script|Grantha characters]]. The contents of the plate are incomplete.<ref name=":12" /> The inscription was discovered by V. Srinivasa Sastri from ''Thalamana Illam'' near [[Changanassery]].<ref name=":23">Rao, T. A. Gopinatha. ''Travancore Archaeological Series'' (Volume II, Part II). 8–14.</ref> The plate is owned by ''Muvidathu Madom'', [[Thiruvalla]].<ref name=":12" /> The record is dated to the twelfth [[regnal year]] of Chera Perumal king [[Rajashekhara (Chera king)|Rama Rajasekhara]] (882/83 CE).<ref name=":3" />
[[File:Perunna inscription of Rama Kulasekhara (1099 AD).jpg|left|thumbnail|The [[Perunna]] inscription (1099 CE) of [[Rama Kulasekhara]] written in [[Old Malayalam]], found near [[Changanassery]].<ref name=":9" />]]
Inscriptions related to [[Rama Kulasekhara]] (1089–1123 CE) of Chera Perumal dynasty can be found at [[Perunna]] near [[Changanassery]].<ref name=":35">{{Cite book |last=Narayanan |first=M. G. S. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0YDCngEACAAJ&q=perumals+of+kerala |title=Perumāḷs of Kerala |publisher=CosmoBooks |year=2013 |isbn=9788188765072 |location=Thrissur (Kerala) |pages=20, 125–130, 467–470 |orig-date=1972}}</ref> The [[Perunna]] inscription dates back to the year 1099 CE (the 10th regional year of Rama Kulasekhara).<ref name=":9">{{Cite book |title=Perumāḷs of Kerala |publisher=CosmoBooks |year=2013 |editor-last=Narayanan |editor-first=M. G. S. |location=Thrissur (Kerala) |pages=467–70 |chapter=Index to Cera Inscriptions |orig-date=1972}}</ref>